So I've seen a few comics were creators use homophobic slurs used against groups they don't belong to themselves. And it wasn't the type of realistic comics were the slurs might actually be necessary to not downplay or mischaracterize real life events.

At least the last one I read didn't have a mature content warning either.

I have zero problem with ppl who are straight or the like making fanservice heavy BL and GL comics. But careless use of slurs that actual gay ppl have to deal with irl just feels kind of icky?

What are you guys thoughts on this?

And racial and transphobic slurs as well?

Being a white cis-gender lesbian I feel it's only my place to reclaim homophobic/misogynistic slurs and avoid those completely (I mean I write sci-fi/fantasy so why would I use them?), but maybe I'm being overcautious?

I know there's also cases were writers have only heard/seen the words used in a reclaimed meaning and use it positively. The comics I'm talking about are the ones were it's meant to be a slur (usually used by an unsympathetic character, but still).

I don't feel like I'm in a place to reclaim any slur. So therefore I do not take the usage of slurs very lightly.

The only time I will use them is if one of my characters is being attacked, and it's made obvious the slur is being used in its intended derogatory way. I'm not painting it to be a fun situation and it's clear I'm not supporting the use of the word.Like here in my comic, I've marked the page as mature for the particular word.tapas.io

Um, nsfw tag for language since it's in bold and takes up half the dialogue on this page.

Another time I might use a slur is if it's historically appropriate but I will mark the pages of course. Theoretically, if it would be very prevalent (say a story set on the west coast of ww2 america and there is a prevailing anti-Japanese sentiment) then I would preface the story with a disclaimer and not mark every page solely for language.

But overall I try to avoid them as much as I can, since I don't take any joy from writing the words out particularly.

It's weird because I never really thought about it, but thinking about it I generally avoid using them / don't use them cause I hate hearing them irl in regards to the groups I belong to.

Even for characters that are supposed to be portrayed negatively I seem to find other ways to reflect their racial / homophobic or transphobic behaviour than saying slurs, the few times I have thrown it into the script is feels forced to me or just stands out to me too much, so I'll usually end up changing the script by the time it's time to draw the page.

I personally don’t care when I see homophobic language in a comic? At least I don’t get uncomfortable seeing them in dialogue, but that’s because I’m in the closet and have never had any homophobic slurs directed at me before.

But there’s a difference between using slurs deliberately than carelessly throwing it around, as you said. Like if it’s being played for laughs, I’d definitely get pretty upset lol. But if you’re trying to set up some realistic conversations, like, say the story takes place in a friend group of teenage boys. At least at my school, “fag” and the n-word are used a lot because teenage boys sometimes use insensitive language, so I can see these words being kept to show how teenager communities can really use some harmful words in their conversations.

What I REALLY hate, though, is when the writer uses the slurs to make the audience feel bad for the character, and for that purpose only. Dunno why I hate it, it just really annoys me for some reason. Like I was watching a video (movie?? Tv show??) and some stereotypical white girl bullies called the girl a “dyke” and like the next shot was of the main character girl being all sad.. like that made me sort of uncomfortable because she wasn’t written as a lesbian, and homosexuality wasn’t an theme in the film. Why not just use “bitch” or something? Was there really a reason to use a homophobic slur specifically? We'll never know ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I have used slurs in the past... rarely and never in a negative context. My intent is never to harm and I make that as clear as possible in context. Words are just words and those throwing slurs around to hurt others are in some way validated when we dance around those terms as a result. It feels to me as if we're letting the bigots win and from a moral standpoint I cant accept that.

There have been people who have enthusiastically disagree and think these terms should be off limits in all contexts forever. I can totally see where they are coming from. All the same I'm going to keep doing what I feel is right until someone can convince me otherwise. It hasn't happened yet but I'm open to the idea of it.

My best argument is to use a slur until it loses all meaning. After all the power of the slur is the meaning we put into it. Depower it and it cant hurt anyone ever again.

Being gay is nothing to be ashamed of being called "Dyke" or "Fag" SHOULDN'T have any power over me.Being Autistic is nothing to be ashamed of thus "Retard" SHOULDN'T have any power over me.

I'm both autistic and not straight. I've been hit with these before and I'll be hit with them again. I'm just not going to give them the satisfaction of letting them bother me anymore. They wanna see retarded? I'll show them how retarded I can BE because I'm not ashamed of it.

Maybe its just me and my form of autism inflicts a lot of anxiety of me so the 'don't a shit' way of approaching assholes just helps me cope better than getting upset.

To me, slurs are not fine if they are not necessary (and, obviously, even less ok if they are there only to offend).But I think they can be very important to keep in certain stories (as you said, realistic ones especially), to demonstrate a certain intensity that correspond to something we know in real life. If you take the homophobic or racist slurs, they often arrive at a specific level of aggression, and this level may not be felt as reached by the reader, if these aggressive words are not there. Unfortunately, IRL, slurs are used also at a very low level of aggression, casually. But what I mean is in storytelling, they can denote a higher intensity than for example, weaker negative interactions in the preceding scene.

I do not go by 'I can only use this specific slur because I'm part of the targeted group'. I don't believe it is a productive way to see things. I think it's more useful (at least for me) to imagine how I would feel by imagining that instead of the slur that does not apply to me, I was reading another slur that is particularly hurtful to me.

If it serves a purpose in a story then it fits. A lot of old stories used it effectively (like Of Mice and Men) and it can serve as a great way to tell social commentary. I feel like avoiding it downplays what effect it has. it someone wants to get across the idea a word has power and it effects someone then not using it would not make any sense if the story already is for mature audiences.

Thinking further on it, since my first response was one me writing with them and not reading them.

I don't mind when it fits or works well with the story or character (I just seem to avoid it myself because of irl experiences) but those reading experiences as honestly very few and far between, there's generally a LOT of writers that seem to think it works when it actually does not and just makes scenes feel awkward, weird, forced or poorly thought out and written.

This may or may not be due to how casually these words are thrown around in real conversations, because yeah, they DO get thrown around both negatively and casually by a lot of people. Writing though has different standards on word meanings and their effects than a typical conversation, and though the standards might seem unrealistic when it comes to including language like this in dialog (especially in the casual sense), there's a understandable reason those standards are there.

I would only use the derogatory terms when really needed on the story.

I personally won't be having any problems seeing them on text as long as its giving something to the story and for artistic sense (?), but yeah, there's times when authors just slapping the slurs around just for the sake of shock value/simplu putting them there just for the sake of it.

You actually can easily difference the slur taut is used for the story/plot/characters growth from the one that is used solely for the shock value, tbh.

But once again, I will avoid using the more heavily derogatory slurs and will use the 'milder' one, if I could call a slurs that, and would only use the more derogatory one when situation really need it. (though my decision making f*cked up sometimes so I might get reprimanded one day for using it in the wrong place)

As OP mentioned, sometimes a slur might be needed for a comic that's handled maturely in order to portray an act of prejudice between characters realistically. Sometimes you just need to show how much of a mean character someone is and having them use a slur can make sense. If your work is set hundreds of years in the past, yes, slurs will be used because a long time ago these words were not considered slurs and were commonly used. People with certain disabilities used to actually be referred to as "idiots" in the medical field with no negative intention, whilst now it's not such a neutral thing to call somebody. Context is important and in the right context not using a slur might be unnatural...Alongside that, using it as reclaimed language is pretty positive and harmless. A character facing a slur that's used against them head on and being proud in the face of it doesn't harm anybody.

However, I don't really think it's at all okay to just throw them around. They should never be used light-heartedly or by characters we're supposed to really like. They shouldn't just be used with reckless abandon.Using racial slurs and not portraying it as distasteful? Throwing around transphobic slurs like the T word or the dreaded "tr*p" whilst showing no concern for how hurtful or damaging the words are within context? That's not cool and can be uncomfortable to read. Not being able to tell if a work is expressing hostility towards you can be extremely off-putting and make you not want to read anymore.

It's also obviously important to treat it as profanity since that's what it is. I can't stand seeing people use slurs as if they're not inappropriate or rude words... They are. If a comic is meant to be for teenagers or kids it's just not appropriate. If it's a light-hearted comic it's just not appropriate.

There are a few instances where characters of mine use slurs or hurtful words - contextually bad people. These are people who hurt others and are generally disliked. If a character uses a slur or says something hurtful it's because they're not a thoughtful or kind person, and the same applies to a fictional character.

Personally for me, words used in comics don't bother me. I don't go out of my way to use such words so they don't show up much on my comics. If there isn't a point, then it's not going to be there. It's just not the point I'm trying to make and I also do not want to distract from the point I am trying to make. That's the issue with writing styles that throw around curse words and the like too often. Too distracting from the point and many times unnatural.

The only exception for me is the n-word. I can't stand it and I always have to see memes that use it and it's just annoying. I really wish that word would diaf. I used to hate the see you next Tuesday word but now I'm fine with it.

In one of my comics, it would have used the gay slur f-word, but I ended up changing it. I am still considering using it but I just don't want people to misinterpret the scene and get caught up in the word rather than the character's not-so-obvious misuse of the word, though it isn't a complete misuse of the word. It's weird.

I think the thing an author needs to ask when confronted with the choice of using a slur is whether or not they are using it as part of the process of telling a character's story. There's a lot of advice out there that advises storytellers to be diverse in their cast of characters - to the extent that they can portray them with their backgrounds in mind. If you're not aware of the weight of certain practices, appearances, and words for a given group, then don't play around with them. Learn first, then incorporate those details into your story.

If it's established that the author does understand the weight and context of the slur they're using, then the only thing I can really ask is that they use that slur with that weight in mind. Just like abuse is not an off-limits topic in stories but really shouldn't be glorified or made the norm, slurs shouldn't be off-limits but also should not be glorified. No one should look particularly "cool" using derogatory language, and if there's a character that uses it all the time, then the author needs to be aware that their character is going to be seen in a VERY particular way, just like you would judge someone who constantly uses slurs in real life.

I take the use of them very seriously it wouldn't be taken lightly, but as a content creator i never really want to tell someone what they should or should not do with their work. some may not agree, but it can make a very intense and impactful scene. Many things don't really bother me when it comes to creative expression, but don't playing it like its a joke, as a creator we have to understand that there are people who go through certain events in real life.